"War, Fascism, concentration camps, rubber truncheons, atomic bombs, etc., are what we daily think about, and therefore to a great extent what we write about, even when we do not name them openly. We cannot help this. When you are on a sinking ship, your thoughts will be about sinking ships." --George Orwell (1903-1950)[Thanks to Alex Constantine @ http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/]

Friday, August 10

Weekly Fascism Buzz

Music and Political Censorship

1. Pearl Jam's Nixed Message to Bush

Over the weekend AT&T gave us a glimpse of their plans for the Web when they censored a Pearl Jam performance that didn’t meet their standard of “Internet freedom.”

During the live Lollapalooza Webcast of a concert by the Seattle-based super-group, the telco giant muted lead singer Eddie Vedder just as he launched into a lyric against President George Bush. The lines — “George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush find yourself another home” were somehow lost in the mix.

“What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band,” Pearl Jam band members stated....

AT&T spokeswoman Tiffany Nels said the company goofed. Its Blue Room website is open to Internet users of all ages, so it tries to block "excessive profanity" from the broadcasts. It hires contractors to monitor the performances, and the broadcasts are delayed slightly to enable monitors to bleep off-color material. But those monitors aren't supposed to edit songs, just the stage patter between them, Nels said. "It's not our policy" to censor performances, Nels said, "and we regret the error." She added, "There was no profanity. It was a mistake."...more

2. CIA Bankrupt Vietnam War Protest Balladeer Buffy Sainte-Marie

PHOENIX - Nearly two decades after Cree singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie's song ''Universal Soldier'' was released and shipments of her records mysteriously disappeared, the truth of the censorship and suppression by the U.S. government became public.

Now, in federal court, Charles August Schlund III stated he is a covert operative and supports Sainte-Marie's assertions that the United States took action to suppress rock music because of its role in rallying opposition to the Vietnam War.

Sainte-Marie says she was blacklisted and, along with other American Indians in the Red Power movements, was put out of business in the 1970s.

''I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that [President] Lyndon Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationary praising radio stations for suppressing my music,'' Sainte-Marie said in a 1999 interview with Indian Country Today at Dine' College.

''In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked,'' Sainte-Marie said....more

Note: In his 2000 book The Covert War Against Rock, author and radio commentator Alex Constintine argued that the government's suppression of anti-war musicians singing about social change also included assassination; he argues the deaths of "Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Michael Hutchence, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Ochs, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, John Lennon, and The Notorious B.I.G." were CIA hits to undermine powerful messages contained in their respective music.

Flashback on Missives by Conspiracy Writer John Judge

1. Vietnam War Truth Still Awaiting the Telling

.... As you note, the war continues to this day in its horrible effects, and people here and there are still dying from it. Three times as many veterans committed suicide on returning home as died in combat, over 150,000, when the VA cut off releasing statistics in the 1970s. The Vietnamese government under Thieu and Ky similarly refused to release further statistics when the birth defect rates reached 25%.

I worked with GIs and with returning veterans of that war for years, and they are all haunted by the lie and what they were forced to do. There is still hardly any forum for the truth that must be told before this country can heal or take enough responsibility to change. Denial and national amnesia are what the system wants so it can continue to fight its wars abroad and here at home.... more

"I am ok thanks, I felt the Pentagon blast shake my windows and decided to take a small trip to the Maryland suburbs until the situation calmed down. It was heading fast to martial law early on here, and they were clamping the exits. So, I packed a bag and went to see friends beyond the play zone. Nasty stuff.

The non-response (ground-to-air missiles -ed) as the Dulles plane flew over the White House and turned to go into the Pentagon is inexplicable that late in the scenario unless this was in inside job. I am sure there is a false sponsor ready to be handed to us.

Now the global corporate/military state will divide the world into "freedom loving free market people" and "terrorists" (meaning anyone who stands up to the neoliberal takeover) and act in unison against them with impunity. The Congressional consensus will be used to bolster Pentagon budgets, create excessive security measures, limit civil liberties, unleash open CIA skulduggery, and attack progressive movements here and abroad.

Retaliation militarily is the most likely and the worst possible response to this, it will escalate it into a permanent war. Rumsfeld told the troops today to be ready to make many more sacrifices for a while. The fraudulent and failed missile defense will get funded I am sure.... more

Chinese Gov't. Now Requires Reincarnation Applications

FROM next month, Tibetan living Buddhas will have to apply for reincarnation to the Chinese Government.

The new rules are "an important move to institutionalise the management of reincarnation of living Buddhas," the Xinhua news agency said.

According to the regulations, which take effect on September 1, all reincarnation applications must be submitted to religious affairs officials for approval, Xinhua said.

China is ruled by the Communist Party, which, despite being officially atheist, maintains strict controls over Tibetan Buddhism and all other religions....more

McProgramming Sheeple

Children find food in McDonald's packaging up to six times more appetising than the identical snacks in plain wrappers, research shows.

The study, designed to gauge the power of advertising, revealed that boys and girls as young as three found food tastier when they thought it was made by a big brand.

The phenomenon is not just restricted to fast foods, with youngsters finding that milk and carrots tastier when they believed they had been bought at McDonald's....more

Zimbabwe Cites NSA Program to Justify "Dictator's Tool Kit"

Yesterday, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe “signed into law the controversial Interception of Communications Bill, which gives his government the authority to eavesdrop on phone and Internet communications and read physical mail.” In order to defend the law, which has been called “the dictator’s tool kit,” Mugabe’s spokesperson pointed to President Bush’s wiretapping program:

Human rights lawyer Otto Saki told VOA [Voice of America} that the law interferes and undermines the enjoyment of rights enshrined in the constitution and is a sign Mr. Mugabe wants to consolidate his power by “any means necessary or unnecessary.”

But Communications Minister Christopher Mushowe said Zimbabwe is not unique in the world in passing such legislation, citing electronic eavesdropping programs in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa, among other countries.